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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20130&cosponId=10280
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House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: December 20, 2012 12:37 PM
From: Representative Adam Harris
To: All House members
Subject: Proposed Legislation to Prevent “Triple-Dipping” of Unemployment
 
TO: All House Members

FROM: Representative Adam Harris

SUBJECT: Proposed Legislation to Prevent “Triple-Dipping” of Unemployment

DATE: December 20, 2012

In the near future I plan to reintroduce my legislation from last session (HB 2346) which addresses a prevalent problem with our unemployment compensation system. As many of you are well aware, there have been numerous situations where retired Commonwealth employees have been called back to work temporarily, and after working 95 days, terminate their employment to preserve their state pension.

Current law provides that if a state annuitant works more than 95 days in a calendar year, their annuity/health care benefits are terminated. Due to this pension issue, there is a formal state hiring policy (Management Directive 515.20) which dictates that if a state annuitant is re-employed, their service cannot exceed 95 days. Because the Commonwealth, as the employer, sets the terms of the annuitant’s temporary employment, the unemployment system had ruled that a separation on the 95th day is involuntary in nature, and the annuitant is entitled to unemployment benefits. I was astonished to learn that this was occurring, and I believe the general public agrees with my sentiment.

I fully support the policy of allowing some annuitants to return to temporary state employment – indeed, many state agencies require additional personnel to deal with surges in case loads. I also believe many of our retired state employees are dedicated professionals who are more than happy to assist the Commonwealth in times of great need. However, when they accept such employment they are fully aware of the terms and conditions of their temporary position, including its termination date. They voluntarily accept such conditional employment. As such, I do not believe it is sound public policy to allow these individuals to collect unemployment benefits after leaving this unique, temporary employment situation. In fact, some newspaper articles highlighted the fact that some of these annuitants were amazed they were eligible to collect at all.

My legislation is written in a manner that does not single out state annuitants (as this would violate federal law). It instead proposes a general prohibition on eligibility for benefits for individuals who voluntarily leave employment to prevent a reduction in their pension benefits.

This bill passed the House unanimously last session. Please contact Valerie Kane (717-783-7830 or vkane@pahousegop.com) in my office if you wish to cosponsor this legislation.



Introduced as HB421